Emmys writers & directors: Writer’s POV – David Milch

Nominated 14 times, most recently for "NYPD Blue" in 1999; won three times, the last one for "NYPD Blue" in 1998

Inspirations: Milch admires series ranging from “Naked City” and “Have Gun Will Travel” to the more recent “L.A. Law” and “The Practice”: “I liked the same thing about all the shows, that they have the feel of lived experience. Obviously they aren’t lived experience, but they evoke it. There are recognizable characters in credible situations and you always experience what better writers than I used to call ‘the shock of recognition.'”

Influences: “I sort of backed into television writing. It wasn’t that I was inspired to have a particular career, my big inspirations were staying out of jail,” quips Milch. However, as soon as he became a television writer, he looked back to his favorite shows for inspiration. “If I’m ever confronted about where I developed the character Sipowicz, Ralph Cramden,” which originated on Milch’s all-time favorite, “The Jackie Gleason Show,” “had as much to do with it as anything else.”

Moments: “I won the Emmy the first time for the first script I ever wrote for television on (‘Hill Street Blues’). That was a proud moment,” he recounts. “Even when ‘NYPD Blue’ won the Emmy for best show, I think that was a very gratifying moment for me.”